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Given this political angle, could it be possible that the right-wing media and Republican politicians could mount a major vaccine skepticism campaign? Obviously, this is already happening to some extent and making a major play for this would be the peak of cynicism, hypocrisy, and bad faith. But like you say, never bet on the good faith of Senate Republicans, let alone the right-wing media ecosystem.

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At this point, the largest cohort of vaccine skeptics are Republicans! Not people of color who have historic racism in medicine to make them dubious, but Republicans. It wouldn't hurt things if those of us who have been vaccinated and consequently can gather again in fully vaccinated families (per Dr. Fauci) make this gradual return to normal life highly visible on social media. People who get their shots can safely have something that everyone wants. Stand in the way of that, Republicans!

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Great article, Dan. Thank you. I agree that the Democrats need to be relentless in publicizing in speeches and ads that the Republicans were unanimous in rejecting support for Americans suffering most from the impact of the pandemic and rejecting the steps commonly agreed as essential to getting schools and businesses safely and sustainably reopened. I believe Speaker Pelosi should open most if not all of her press conferences with those facts, as should Leader Schumer. Jaime Harrison and Representative Maloney should be constant with the same messaging as they target key 2022 Senate and House races.

Thanks again, and hope your day is a good one.

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Of course the big difference (so far it seems) is that the Fed is not going to sabotage the recovery by allowing inflation to remain below target as it did in 2008-2000. Also bizarrely, Democrats did not design ACA to be more transparently beneficial to people, delayed roll out and failed to campaign on its success.

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